Abstract
Despite women participating in a variety of sports at an international level, the Australian sports media is dominated by male commentators, male identified sports, and male athletes. Much of the sports reporting in Australia surrounds high profile male team sports such as rugby league (NRL), cricket and Australian rules football (AFL), and women sports do not generally feature heavily in sports coverage in either print or broadcast mediums. However, every four years the Olympic Games change this culture somewhat. Over the period of the Olympic Games, during the lead up to the Games and in the weeks post Games, women athletes can be found in the sports pages. During this period, Australian women athletes are celebrated and awarded space in newspaper coverage, particularly if their athletic performance brings success to the country. This ongoing longitudinal study documents the prevalence of female sports stories in two state (New South Wales) and one national newspaper in Australia, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Daily Telegraph and The Australian, between 2008 and 2012. In the broader study, newspapers, two weeks prior to the Olympics beginning, during the Olympics and two weeks after the Olympics were completed, were analyzed. However in the current paper, a small slice of this research between 2008-2012 will be analyzed in relation to gender (male, female or a combination of male and female athletes), the articles relationship to the Olympic Games, and the general content of sports news articles. The content and language used in the newspaper articles are examined using a critical feminist perspective and such a perspective will investigate the ways that women are often ‘feminized’, ‘gender marked’, ‘infantilized’ and ‘heterosexualized’ in the sports media during both Olympic and non-Olympic years.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication status | Published - 2013 |
| Event | Fourth International Conference on Sport & Society - University Center Chicago, Chicago, United States Duration: 13 Jun 2013 → 15 Jun 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20130117070333/http://sportandsociety.com:80/the-conference/ (Conference website) |
Conference
| Conference | Fourth International Conference on Sport & Society |
|---|---|
| Abbreviated title | Amateur and Student Athletes: Pressures and Possibilities |
| Country | United States |
| City | Chicago |
| Period | 13/06/13 → 15/06/13 |
| Other | The Sport and Society knowledge community is brought together by a common concern for scientific policy and strategic perspective in sport and society. We are inviting proposals for paper presentations, workshops/interactive sessions, posters/exhibits, or colloquia (See Proposal Types). For more information about the ideas and themes underlying this community, see Our Focus. Proposal ideas that extend beyond these thematic areas will also be considered. Virtual participation is available for those who are unable to attend the conference in person. Proposals for virtual presentations may be submitted at any time, up to the start of the conference. All conference registrants (in-person and virtual) may also submit their written papers for publication in the journal that supports this knowledge community. |
| Internet address |
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Cite this
Litchfield, C., & Osborne, J. (2013). Women in the sports pages: A brief insight into Olympic and non-Olympic years in Australia. Paper presented at Fourth International Conference on Sport & Society, Chicago, United States.